A Second Chance
by TrulyMagical
Summary: Even in the wizarding world, there is no way to bring the dead back to life. No one knows that better than Harry Potter. But what if you got a second chance? Every person’s dream becomes a reality for Harry & Ginny. R&R Please!
1. The Final Battle

**Synopsis**:

Even in the wizarding world, there is no way to bring the dead back to the world of the living. But what if you got a second chance at life, knowing what you know now? Every person's dream becomes a reality for Harry & Ginny.

Disclaimer: J.K. doesn't have time for fan fics, Book 7! Anything you recognize is not mine.

**Chapter I: The Final Battle**

The sky was as black as night over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as the battle to end all battles raged on. The noon sun was blocked by the thickest of clouds, and the hot and humid airs of July were replaced with chilling winds and freezing rains. Still, members of the dark and the light continued on, throwing curses of all different colors andpotencies back and forth. The passing muggle may have mistaken the scene for a fireworks display gone terribly wrong.

On and on the battle went, no side gaining any ground, but not losing too much either. The witches and wizards were all highly skilled in the art of dueling, and, despite differences in age, matched each others movements as though they were a choreographed dance. However, if one had a moment to catch a breath, the dueler may have taken notice of a strange meeting taking place atop the highest hill on the grounds. This particular meeting was the sole purpose of this battle; its ending would end the war.

Harry Potter stood, ready to meet his fate, as he and Lord Voldemort, prepared to face off.

"Ah, yes Potter" Voldemort hissed out "so we meet again. Though I really must say, I am beginning to tire of these meetings. You can not defeat me."

"Oh how little you actually know Tom." Harry replied in a falsely happy voice, "You see, I know your secret, the key to your immortality. And, I hate to be the one to inform you, but you only have one piece of soul left. I have every intention of destroying that piece today."

Realization slowly dawned on Voldemort's face, as he desperately called for Nagini. "She will not be joining us Tom."

Realization transformed into anger, and Voldemort again spoke in a voice full of hate "You may have destroyed my horcrux, but you still have no chance against the Dark Lord. This will end, here and now, mark my words Potter!"

"As you wish." With that, Harry and Voldemort presented their wands and bowed to one another, as the duel began.

Voldemort's exact precision and aim was matched perfectly against Harry's speed and agility, instinct from years of Qudditch. Curses and hexes were shot back and forth upon that hilltop, for what seemed, to Harry, to last hours, if not days. The battle taking place below came to a stop as all gathered to see the outcome of this final duel. Both Harry and Voldemort began to tire as they continued to cast and dodge.

Voldemort made the first mistake, and was hit with a particularly nasty cutting curse across his cheek. Harry gave him time to recover before he continued his attack. Soon though, Harry was hit with an even worsecutting curse that grazed his side, causing him to turn his back on Voldemort. Taking advantage of his opponents weakened stated, Voldemort sent an Avada Kedarva Harry's way.

"NOOO!" was all that was heard as a flaming streak of red leapt in front of the killing curse meant for Harry.

"Ginny!" Harry shouted, running to her. He sat next to her, taking her in his arms "No. No. No! It wasn't supposed to be like this! You were supposed to be safe! Ginny, no! You can't be dead! Ginny, I can't do this without you. I…I…I love you. Ginny, I love you! Please don't leave, not now, not like this." Harry's voice faded to a whisper as he rocked Ginny's lifeless body. Slowly, he lifted his tear-filled emerald eyes to glance into the red of her murderer, but it was too late. Voldemort had sent another killing curse directly at Harry. As the unforgivable hit Harry, he had a funny feeling that he wasn't quite finished on this earth just yet.

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Harry could not have been more right. 

As he opened his eyes, he was met with quite a strange sight. He was in a white room that seemed to have no end and no beginning. Harry heard muffled sounds coming from somewhere in his chest. He looked down and saw a not-so-lifeless Ginny.

"Harry, I can't breathe" she mumbled out.

"Oh, sorry" soon realization dawned on Harry, "Ginny? Is that really you? Your not dead! Wait, or are we both dead?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Where are we?"

"No. No. NO." They heard shouted from somewhere behind them. "This is all wrong! It was not supposed to happen like this at all! I mean, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, I could have dealt with, but Harry and Ginny too! I won't let it!"

Harry and Ginny slowly turned to face the person who was speaking. Their eyes were met with quite an extraordinary site. They saw a short old man, who seemed to been around for ages. His colorful robes and long, flowing beard could have rivaled those of the late Albus Dumbledore. "Merlin," Ginny stated just above a whisper, "it's Merlin!"

Harry looked down at Ginny, pondering what she just said. _The_ Merlin? Slowly, Harry rose to his feet and reached down, helping Ginny up as well. 'Merlin' continued to pace back and forth, mumbling to himself.

"Harry," Ginny whispered "Harry, that's Merlin! I used to see his picture all the time at the Ministry when I was younger. My dad took me to work all the time andI just can't believe it!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"You don't exactly forget the face of Merlin, besides, he looks so much like Dumbledore, its uncanny!"

Harry looked at her questioningly for a moment before glancing up at the pacing old man and clearing his throat "Er…excuse me…but…er…could you tell us what were doing here…er…I don't mean to be rude or anything…"

"Oh, what? Oh, yes, yes, of course. How silly of me! I'm Merlin, and you are, of course, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley," he stated as he shook each of their hands with a bit too much enthusiasm. "You must be wondering what you are doing here! I will explain everything, we don't have much time, I can only take so much control. Ah, but first things first. Have a seat." As soon as he said that, brilliantly white chairs appeared, andflew in from behind them, hitting them in just the right manner to force them to sit.

"Tea? Biscuits?" A small white coffee table appeared in front of them, as a tray floated down from no where, landing in front of them.

"So you really are _the_ Merlin then?" Harry inquired, as Ginny poured the tea for everyone.

"The one and only."

"Seriously?"

"Deadly. Pardon the pun."

"So, we are dead then?" Ginny asked.

"I'm afraid so."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a sad look. "At least we aren't alone."

"However, you won't be dead for long, that is, if you choose to take the offer I am about to make."

"Offer? But I thought there was no way, muggle or magic, to bring the dead back to life!"

"Ah, yes Harry. You are quite right. No way to bring the dead back to life. But I this is not what I am speaking of."

"What then?"

"Patience, Harry, have a little faith in me. First, I must explain why you are here, then we shall get into how to get you back."

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	2. The Gateway

**Chapter 2: The Gateway**

Disclaimer: You've heard of it before? Then its not mine

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"To begin, let me tell you just exactly where you are. This is a void between the land of the living and the land of the dead, created by yours truly. I am the only one with access, and only those I view as worthy to invite are allowed entrance. Very few souls have the ability to travel away from the land of the dead; only those with the purest of heart, bravest of souls, and a very powerful magical aura can do such a fantastic feat.

"That being said, you two are quite powerful, though you have yet to realize your full potential. Just remember that together you are unstoppable, divided, well, still one hell of a fight. Not too many who can quite match you two, especially if you go back as you are. But, once again, I am getting ahead of myself.

"So now, why are you here? Simply because your fates got slightly off course, I daresay it was partially my fault. However, everything started to get affected, slowly at first, but then it just snowballed out of proportion. I just had to put my foot down."

"What do you mean? What went wrong?" Harry asked.

"Well Harry, being Merlin and all, I have a vast knowledge of all forms of ancient magic. I frequently use my knowledge to help those still among the living, when I can. I knew you needed to learn a lot of magic very quickly. I took it upon myself to help eliminate some of the pressure you had upon you. I see now how wrong I was. You see, the thing I eliminated would have been the one thing to help you the most. Harry, I kind of 'shut off' your feelings for Ginny, which, in turn, made her even more…er…obsessed with you during her first year…"

"I was _not_ _obsessed_!" Ginny said indignantly.

Merlin continued "Ginny's _enthusiasm_ towards you scared you off a bit too much, which caused you to take even longer to recognize your feelings even after I returned the balance to your hearts. Unfortunately, since the two of you were not together in any sense of the term, certain things happened that should not have happened. Certain events, or lack thereof, even some deaths…"

"Wait a minute. You are telling me that the reason why we are dead is because of you! All this time, think of all this time we could have had! Why would you do that!" Harry yelled, his anger taking over.

"I believe Albus did say it best…something along the lines of just a foolish mistake made by a foolish old man. I just did not see the need to rush things. You did have all that time, and with everything else on your plate, I thought it could wait a bit. I do apologize to you both. In all honesty, I thought you were a bit too young."

"Oh not you too! Too young? Too young! I believe that I survived Voldemort, the Dursleys, and numerous other things before I even met Ginny! Why must everyone always insist that I am too young? If I am old enough to be killed, I am old enough to handle my own feelings, thank _you_ very much!"

Ginny softly touched Harry's arm, visibly calming him down a bit.

"Quite right you are Harry! I now see the error of my ways, which is why I brought you here, before you became part of the land of the dead. You see, I have been working on this."

With a snap of his fingers, Merlin caused a gateway to float down from nothing, and land a few meters behind him. It was, in a word, marvelous. The arch was made of pure marble, with ancient runes inscribed on every inch of bare surface. The inner part of the gateway seemed to glow and shimmer, giving off every color of light one could think of, bathing the white void in rainbows of color.

Harry heard a sharp intake of breathe and a mutter of "beautiful" from Ginny as they both stared in wonder at the object.

"What does it do?" Ginny inquired.

"It will take those whose fates have been severely altered, and take them back to the most opportune time to fix the mistake." Merlin explained, "Quite simply put, it gives you a second chance."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a brief glance, both knowing already what they wanted.

"We'll do it." Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"I had hoped so, however, I must ask of you a favor. Several fates have been wronged, simply because you two were not together. So before I allow you to step through, I must ask you to agree to fix what you see to be broken."

"But how will we know?" Ginny asked.

"You will. As long as you are together, you will know what is right and what is wrong. By stepping through this gate, you will not be allowed back here, until the fates have been corrected. If you fail at your task, you will be doomed to wander the Earth as a ghost, for all of eternity. You will not be able to see those who pass on ever again. Although, I must warn you, not stepping through that portal could cause the whole fate of the world to be changed drastically. Good and evil will remain unbalanced, unfortunately towards the evil side. I hate to be so forthcoming, but the fate of the world lies in this one choice."

Harry turned to Ginny, "What do you think Gin?"

Ginny looked up into his eyes and said "Same as you. As long as we are there together, nothing else matters."

"I was hoping you'd say that" Harry returned his attention to Merlin "We'll do it."

Merlin gave a shout of joy as he ushered the two teens towards the portal "Now, no time to waste! Hurry! Don't delay! And don't forget stay together and trust your instincts!"

With a wave towards Merlin, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand as they closed their eyes, took a deep breathe, and stepping into a second chance.

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	3. Author Notes

**A/N: Hey Everyone. I am sorry to say that I am having a lot of plot issues with this story. No worries. I am not abandoning it…I just need a break to try and work out some things that are going on later in the story before I can write the next few chapters. Sorry about the wait. Hopefully I'll be posting some of my one-shots, so look for those!**

**_Truly_**Magical


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